Chapter 21 #2
“And I, you. This is my secretary, Kevin.” She nods at a slim man in a dark grey suit and herds them to a desk made of orange-toned wood, taking her seat behind it and gesturing to the two seats on the other side.
“I hear you only have an hour’s lunch break from your terribly worthy job.
We’ll eat these rather limp-looking sandwiches—yes, thank you Kevin, I know you did your best—and you can tell me everything.
Did you miss him as much as he missed you? ”
“Hard question to answer,” Will replies, settling into the seat and accepting a cheese sandwich.
Luckily the subsequent questions are a little more straightforward.
Nate recounts the story of how they got back together, glossing over Will’s drunken confession and emphasising the joyful weeks of rekindling connection.
Emily asks for his perspective on how their bond was broken, listening to his answer with an empathetic ear.
He musters the courage to ask about Nathan, when he worked for her, curious how he was then compared to how he is now.
He can see why Nathan likes her so much.
She’s warm and jovial, yes, but she’s also forthright; asking jarringly insightful questions and listening carefully to the answers.
She cares for him, that much is obvious, looking at him with the kind of affection that Will’s mum always directed at them both.
“I’m so happy for you,” Emily says, her own sandwich long abandoned. “I’m proud of you, Nathan, for pulling yourself out of the pit. And of you, Will, for—”
A sudden crash punctures the calm around Emily’s desk. Nathan’s head whips to the door, Will’s gaze following just in time to see Sameer dart through and slam it behind him.
A jumble of shouting downstairs. Will’s stuck, frozen solid like a deer in the headlights, Emily’s eyes meeting his, full of alarm.
Nate’s already moving, his chair falling to the floor behind him, closing the distance to the door.
“What’s happening?” Will whispers, edging closer to the desk, as if its solidity will protect him.
Emily shushes him, listening intently to the cacophony beneath them.
Except it’s not beneath them anymore. The shouts are clearer now, three or four distinct voices, unclear how many friend or foe.
“Ohgodohgodohgodohgod…” Kevin is nearly hyperventilating, frozen still on the other side of the room.
Will watches as his boyfriend plasters his back to the wall next to the door. “Sameer! What’s the situation?”
There’s no response.
A bang, way too close, the sound vibrating in Will’s ears. A scream, cut short before it’s even begun. Someone snarls an instruction to get back.
Nathan’s eyes meet Will’s, calm and collected despite the chaos. Suddenly Will’s flying, his chair sliding around the corner of the desk and back behind it. He’s shaking when he finally starts moving, dropping to the floor and kicking the chair back, instinctively staying close to the ground.
Kevin sails over them, body moving so fast he must have been thrown. He hits the floor with a thump so loud Will can’t help but wince. He reaches out, grasps Kevin’s ankle, dragging him closer so all three of them are hidden behind the desk.
The desk, which creaks for just a second before it catapults forward. It smashes into the doorframe, pinning the door shut, the wood groaning with the effort.
“Guys.” Nathan’s talking to them, Will realises, his voice fractionally softer. “I need you to huddle together, make yourselves small, okay?”
Kevin’s breath wheezes in and out of his mouth in a ragged pant. He glances up at Nathan, at the desk against the door, and he shrieks, hands immediately flying to his mouth as if to hold in his panic.
“Make yourselves small,” Nathan repeats, his eyes snapping to Will’s. “And be calm.”
A flare of understanding lights up in Will’s brain.
He doesn’t have time to worry about the ethics of it, doesn’t have a second to agonise, he just grabs Kevin’s ankle and drags him closer still, making sure that his thumb presses against bare skin.
A quick glance at Emily tells him what he already knows; she’s cool as anything, calming herself with deep, rhythmic breaths.
“Be calm.” Will repeats the words like a mantra, hoping his racing heart doesn’t send Kevin further into panic. “Be calm.”
A screeching noise starts up behind them.
Nathan’s brow is furrowed in concentration, his gaze firmly anchored over Will’s shoulder. The screeching intensifies as a metal filing cabinet tears past, barely missing his shoulder before it crashes into the door on top of the desk.
He’s building a blockade. He’s building a blockade with office furniture.
For just a moment, Will relaxes. Nathan knows what he’s doing; he’s strong, he’s trained, he knows.
But who exactly are they up against? Suddenly Will remembers the escalating protests. If the people outside the door are nines, tens even, what chance does Nathan have?
Kevin wails, chest heaving. Will digs his fingers in, flailing for focus with no idea how to make his Gift work.
“Come on, Kevin. I need you to be calm. We’re in this situation now, but we’ll be out of it soon.” Some of the tension leaves Kevin’s body, his cries softening. “They’re trained for this. Nathan, Sameer, Amy. They know what they’re doing. Just hold on for me.”
Kevin curls into a little ball, his breathing less jagged.
It’s working. Thank fuck, it’s working.
Another almighty screech, another filing cabinet propelled towards Nathan. This one stops on the empty carpet just before the door. Nathan grits his teeth and one of the sides starts to come away, rivets popping as he wrenches it back like he’s opening a tin can.
Like he peeled the car door open.
The door judders in its frame, vibrating and clattering from the pressure exerted upon it. The pile of furniture shifts a mere inch, letting the door snap open for just a second before Nathan forces everything back.
He’s sweating, brown hair sticking to his forehead as he alternates between holding the door closed and tearing the filing cabinet apart.
“Nate!” Will yells, his heart racing. “Nate!”
“Stay calm, Will.” Nathan spits out the words from between gritted teeth.
He cries out, and the filing cabinet explodes into shrapnel, rivets and bolts raining down to the carpet. A large, flat piece separates itself from the debris, flying over to hover beside him.
Nathan turns towards the lamp in the corner.
The bulb darkens abruptly as he wrenches the cord from the base, unfurling it towards the door. It doesn’t quite reach, a few metres between the exposed wires and the sheet metal hovering behind the desk.
The sound of sirens filters in from outside. They’re loud, loud enough that they must surely be in the car park, must surely be close enough to help.
The door shakes in its frame one last time before it explodes. Will raises his arm instinctively, fragments of wood slamming into his skin, uniform scant protection.
Where is he? “Nate!”
There’s no reply. Furniture goes flying, the desk ripped to shreds. There’s little left of the door, and soon there’ll be little left of the barricade.
Where is he? I can’t lose him again. “NATE!”
A man leaps through the remains of their barricade, hair shorn short against his skull.
Will gathers Emily and Kevin closer, trying to make them small, like Nate said.
The sirens are loud enough that Will’s ears hurt.
Shouting from downstairs; new voices, so many.
The man prowls forward, each step bringing him closer to the little group huddled on the floor.
Nathan grunts, and the metal sheet smashes into the man from the side, hard enough that he drops to his knees.
At the same time, a glimpse of movement in the corner of Will’s eye, a coiled snake readying itself to strike.
Lightning flashes. A frantic crackle of electricity, barbed and whip sharp. A scream.
Suddenly the room is filled with uniformed riot officers, the same kind they saw outside the municipal building. Hands are pulling him upright, asking if he’s okay, Emily and Kevin getting the same treatment.
Where is he?
“Nate?”
“I’m here.” Nathan pushes his way through the officers. “Will. You’re okay?”
Will grabs him, crushing him against his chest, conscious their skin is in contact and not caring the slightest bit. “Nate, I thought… I thought…”
His chest feels like it’s caving in.
“I’m alright, Will. I promise.” Nathan squeezes him close, arms tight around his waist. “Are you okay?”
I could have lost you again.
Thoughts and emotions whirl inside him, adrenaline-spiked and fractured. There’s a realisation in there, buried somewhere beneath the fray, but he’s too exhausted to hunt for it. He chooses to bury his face in Nathan’s hair, breathing him in, every last molecule of him spreading deep in his lungs.
I could have lost you.
“Never again,” he mumbles, holding his Nate as close as he can.